A Call to United Extraordinary Prayer...Prayer Greater New York) is utterly unprecedented. Without a doubt, it is the most significant urban prayer movement anywhere in the world

A Call toUnited,

ExtraordinaryPrayer ...

A Call to United Extraordinary Prayer.p65 21/02/2003, 16:301

Foreword © David BryantISBN 1 85792 860 1

Published in 2003in the

Christian Heritage imprintby

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A Call toUnited,

ExtraordinaryPrayer ...

An Humble Attempt to promoteExplicit Agreement and Visible Union of

God’s People, in Extraordinary Prayer,for the Revival of Religion and the

Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom onEarth, Pursuant to Scripture Promises and

Prophecies concerning the Last Time

byJonathan Edwards


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IntroductionBy David Bryant

For me, it began in January 1981, in bed, with the flu.While recuperating, I dipped into a recently acquiredantique book by Jonathan Edwards, published in 1747,on a concept called ‘A Concert of Prayer’. It came withan amazing 145-word title (virtually its table of contents!).Thankfully, it is best known by its first forty-three words:An Humble Attempt to promote an explicit agreementand visible union of God’s people through the world, inextraordinary prayer, for the revival of religion and theadvancement of Christ’s kingdom on earth, pursuant toScripture promises and prophecies concerning the lasttime. Over the past 250 years, its short-handle title hasnarrowed down, mercifully, to: An Humble Attempt.

Regardless of the title, its impact on me that coldwintry day, can be stated in just five little words: It changedmy life forever! Let me tell you a bit of my story. Then,let me tell you the story of Jonathan Edwards and whyAn Humble Attempt could change your life as well.


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A Call to United, Extraordinary Prayer ...

Above all, I want you to discover why this eighteenth-century prayer manual could not be more relevant towhat God is doing with his people today. Finally, I wantto invite you to read it – with prayer – and respondappropriately.

How How How How How An Humble AttemptAn Humble AttemptAn Humble AttemptAn Humble AttemptAn Humble Attempt Shaped My Life Shaped My Life Shaped My Life Shaped My Life Shaped My LifeFirst, fast-forward with me almost exactly twenty yearslater. In early spring 2001, I stood with pastors from allover the northeast United States at the grave of JonathanEdwards, at the edge of the Princeton University campus(about twenty-five miles from my home), where he servedas its second president. Climaxing my last plenaryweekend conference on prayer and revival, I walked theentire delegation the five blocks from Miller Auditoriumto the graveyard. There in the gathering dusk, we joinedhands and prayed that the Spirit would fulfill Edwards’vision for a worldwide Concert of Prayer in our lifetime.We also prayed for the consummation of God’s plan forthe ages – the hope that drove Edwards to write AnHumble Attempt in the first place. Finally, in the spiritof Edwards’ treatise, we rededicated ourselves to returnto our churches and communities to humbly attempt tofoster such extraordinary praying among our people.

As I walked to my car that night, I reflected on thejourney I’ve enjoyed those intervening twenty years. Somuch has happened with me because of the impetus ofAn Humble Attempt starting in 1981.

To begin, there were the previous ten years of ministrythat prepared me to hear and heed Edwards’ passion. In1970, for example, I pastored a church through thirtydays of intensive nights of prayer over our city, caught upin a violent revolution. Locally, years full of renewal and


9

Introduction

evangelism resulted. In 1975, having moved to the otherend of our continent, I found myself in a weekly prayergroup through which God launched one of the mostsignificant missionary think tanks of our times. He did itfrom scratch, because we sought his face. In 1977, I spenta summer with a vibrant south Asian indigenous revival-and-missions organization. I learned from them thepossibilities of major spiritual breakthroughs, when Godworks with poverty-stricken Christians given to unceasing,united prayer and fasting.

By 1980, however, I started grappling with somethingfar less encouraging. As a minister-at-large for theInterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, I traveled tochurches of all denominations, in many nations. To mygrief, I found myself consistently uncovering a dangerouslevel of apathy and presumption towards Christ, markedby a prevalent spirit of prayerlessness on every side. Whata contradiction this was to what I had read in graduatestudies on the history of spiritual awakenings; or, to therole of corporate prayer I found recorded all throughthe Scriptures; or to what I had personally witnessed inseasons of united prayer in places like India. Somethingtold me the current Christian movement, especially inthe West, was in serious jeopardy unless concerted,kingdom-sized praying became high priority once again.

Enter Jonathan Edwards and his An Humble Attemptthat January afternoon in 1981. Not only did histheological perspectives undergird my growingconvictions, but he also clarified for me how one couldthink strategically and practically about mobilizing unitedprayer. For any who study my life, two decades worth offruit from his call for a ‘concert of prayer’ are there forall to see.


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Here are a few examples:

1. Using the term coined in Edwards’s day, Iimmediately began a monthly ‘concert of prayer’ inmy hometown of Madison, the capital city ofWisconsin. The first night six people showed up fromthree churches. Eventually, twelve years later, we hadover thirty churches involved, with literally thousandswho had joined in the once a month Concert of Prayer.Leaders have often told me they see this sustainedlocal initiative as the fountainhead of thousands ofother Concert of Prayer gatherings taking place all overthe world today.

2. In 1984, serving on the program committee for thefirst-ever International Prayer Assembly For WorldEvangelization (IPA) (held in Seoul, Korea, andsponsored by the Lausanne Committee and the WorldEvangelical Fellowship), I introduced other leadersto Edwards’ book and theses. As a result, his primarytext of Zechariah 8: 20-23 – describing citywide andnationwide united prayer initiatives – became the IPA’stheme passage. Furthermore, his vision took shape inour motto: ‘Seeking God’s Face for A Movement ofPrayer for the World’. Happily as well, his unrealizedlongings for a worldwide prayer movement began tounfold throughout the nations, as nearly threethousand delegates returned to mobilize concertedprayer everywhere. Even as I write this paragraph, I’mheaded to South Africa to join a three hundred strongcouncil to plan for a global conference marking thetwentieth anniversary of the IPA in 2004. At that timeleaders worldwide will gather (probably in Thailand)


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Introduction

to hear the reports of how Edwards’ vision is unfoldingat this moment in the greatest international prayermovement in church history.

3. Personally, I sought to implement throughout the1980s An Humble Attempt in ways Edwards may nothave envisioned. For example, we rented civic centersand sports stadiums in many cities to gather multitudesof believers for evenings of worship and intercession.We called them ‘Concert of Prayer Rallies’. In theseunusual convocations, every emphasis of Edwards’forty-three word title found expression acrossdenominations and ethnicities: we enjoyed explicitagreement, visible union, for revival, for advancement,based on kingdom promises and focused on a freshrevelation of the consummate glory of Christ in ourgeneration. I remember one Concert of Prayer Rallywhere a wealthy businessman rented twenty-fivebillboards on major highways across his state, to‘advertise’ the event and invite everyone to come.Edwards would have rejoiced at such an ‘attempt’ to‘promote’ extraordinary prayer. And I remember over70,000 students gathered in the Olympic Stadium inKorea in 1975 in a driving rainstorm, huddled underumbrellas for hours in what they called ‘A Concert ofPrayer’. It was a sight no Puritan in 1747 could haveimagined.

4. Working with over 160 leaders in America’sNational Prayer Committee (which I’ve chaired since1995), we began to help churches walk out Edwards’vision back into local congregations. Over the pastfifteen years, dozens of interdenominational resources


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(like the Praying Church Sourcebook) and networks(like the National Association of Local Church PrayerLeaders) have continued to empower the process.As you’ll discover reading it, An Humble Attemptwas ultimately about prayer at the congregational level– as Edwards might say it today: ‘unite globally butpray locally’.

5. Finally, I felt accountable to God to start recordingmy discoveries gleaned from prayer mobilizersthroughout the Body of Christ – insights boththeological and practical. But even then I couldn’t strayfar from Edwards – I titled one of my books: WithConcerts Of Prayer: Christians Unite For SpiritualAwakening And World Evangelization! It was followedby other works, like The Prayer PacesettersSourcebook: How To Ignite And Sustain Community-Wide Prayer, that came out of conducting over twenty-five urban prayer consultations in fifteen nations. Butthrough it all, An Humble Attempt remained mycompass; it hovered in the background.

6. Then, in 1988 I began a ministry called Concerts ofPrayer International (COPI). Shortly after, I movedto New York City to base my labors out of the prayermovement there. What I’ve watched unfold in theBig Apple (first as a department of COPI and thenunder the leadership of Mac Pier and Concerts OfPrayer Greater New York) is utterly unprecedented.Without a doubt, it is the most significant urban prayermovement anywhere in the world. Edwards would bethrilled at the results. Take, for example, our ‘humbleattempt’ to mobilize a twenty-four hour prayer watch,


13

Introduction

incorporating over one hundred churches from allbackgrounds. Praying unitedly over the city for nearlya decade, we call it ‘The Lord’s Watch’. But, as you’reabout to discover in reading An Humble Attempt, thiseffort is precisely what Edwards and others meant bya Concert of Prayer. The recent tremendous advancesof the gospel in the aftermath of September 11, 2001,are clearly and directly related to the concerted prayersof hundreds of pastors and thousands of believersin New York, not only for our city but for thenations.

7. And I wonder what Edwards would think of this?Once a year (since 1993), on the evening of ourNational Day of Prayer in the States, the ‘NationallyBroadcast Concert of Prayer’ (from the NationalPrayer Committee) gathers millions of intercessors intoprayer for revival and kingdom advance. For example,last year from Constitution Hall in Washington DC,with uplinks from New York City and elsewhere, alive, three-hour Concert of Prayer was telecast on overseven hundred television outlets, to thousands ofchurch sanctuaries via satellite dishes, and by over onethousand radio stations. Simulcast in Spanish, it alsoblanketed every nation in the Western Hemisphereand parts of Europe, by TV and radio. Streamed liveon the Internet, it was literally available to Christiansworldwide. Would Edwards endorse this? As you readAn Humble Attempt, you’ll discover (in the words ofDr. Robert Bakke, producer of the NationallyBroadcast Concert of Prayer, and an historian ofprayer movements): ‘So taken was Edwards with thevision of a unified Church literally covering the earth


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with harmonized praying that he dedicated much ofhis energies throughout the last ten years of his life topromoting it.’

The Timing For Edwards’ Book Could Not Be Better!The Timing For Edwards’ Book Could Not Be Better!The Timing For Edwards’ Book Could Not Be Better!The Timing For Edwards’ Book Could Not Be Better!The Timing For Edwards’ Book Could Not Be Better!And the beat goes on. The world’s leading Christiandemographer, Dr. David Barrett, has concluded fromextensive research that worldwide there are nearly 200million Christians committed to praying every day forthe vision An Humble Attempt fosters. Of these, at least20 million believe this is their full-time ministry for Christ,and over 10 million weekly prayer groups meet acrossthe globe to focus on (as Edwards put it) “the revival ofreligion and the advancement of Christ’s kingdom onearth, pursuant to the scriptural promises andprophecies…”

The ‘river of revival’ may not be here yet. But thereare many ‘feeder streams’ – of which Edwards could onlydream – such as national days of prayer, global prayernetworks, prayer walking of neighborhood streets, youthprayer clubs, pastors prayer summits, weekly concerts ofprayer in thousands of churches, etc. And talk aboutamazing ‘attempts to promote’ united prayer today! Thinkabout this: books on prayer have become New YorkTimes bestsellers. Websites on prayer abound (like allof those listed at www.nationalprayer.org). PRAY!Magazine (the voice of the National Prayer Committee,from NavPress) has succeeded in circulation wheresecular periodicals have folded. Also, for the past fifteenyears, Christians in America have been united from coastto coast in a daily radio broadcast for revival praying (overthree hundred stations) called ‘National Concert ofPrayer’.


15

Introduction

If (as Edwards believed) all this activity is a graciousgift from God, and if Christ’s universal glory is its passion,then surely the river of revival cannot be far behind!

Therefore, this is a perfect time, in the midst ofinternational ferment for prayer, to revisit JonathanEdwards’ wisdom and pragmatism captured so powerfullyin An Humble Attempt. It is especially auspicious thatChristian Focus Publications has reissued it on the 300th

anniversary of his birth.So let me take a moment now to reintroduce you to

one of my favorite ‘mentors’. Then we’ll make a quicksurvey of the book that changed the course of the church.

Meet Jonathan Edwards and His Heart for PrayerMeet Jonathan Edwards and His Heart for PrayerMeet Jonathan Edwards and His Heart for PrayerMeet Jonathan Edwards and His Heart for PrayerMeet Jonathan Edwards and His Heart for PrayerAmerican church historian Perry Miller proclaimedEdwards to be ‘the greatest philosopher-theologian yetto grace the American scene’. Even neo-orthodox scholar,H. Richard Neibuhr, turned to the Puritan giant to helpthe church understand the true devastation of World WarII and how Christians should respond.

Born on October 5, 1703, and graduated at YaleUniversity, from 1726-1750 Edwards served as the pastorof a congregational church in Northhampton,Massachusetts. It was the largest and most influentialchurch outside Boston in all of New England. During histenure, he had a personal experience with genuine revivalon two occasions (for which his predecessors atNorthhampton had sought God for decades): (1) on amore local community level from 1734-35, and then (2)in the First Great Awakening in the colonies, especiallyduring the early 1740s. All of this laid the groundworkfor An Humble Attempt.

In fact, on the eve of the Great Awakening, he wrote


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a seminal theological discourse, based on a sermon series,called A History of Redemption. In it he traced theevidence from Scripture and church history for how timesof extraordinary prayer are linked with advances inChrist’s kingdom and the work of redemption. Gradually,this vision became a consuming passion of his final yearsof ministry.

In truth, An Humble Attempt was composedbecause, after two remarkable movements of God inrevival, Edwards sensed the spiritual momentum waswaning. The saints needed to urgently re-engage prayer.In fact, he already suspected that the next wave ofawakening would not surface until a new generation ofleadership was in place, most likely years after his call fora Concert of Prayer. Unfortunately, he was not far offthe mark. An Humble Attempt did not catch on (exceptin a few places, like Princeton in 1757) until the latterpart of the 1700s, when it became fuel for the Secondand Third Great Awakenings. But I’m getting ahead ofmyself.

An Humble Attempt had a practical mission. It wasEdwards’ response to a document from Scottish pastorscalled a Memorial. Here’s the story. Rising out of scoresof prayer societies already functioning in Scotland around1740, especially among young people, by 1744 acommittee of ministers determined it was time to domore. They decided to try a two-year ‘experiment’,uniting all prayer groups and praying Christians in theirnation into a common prayer strategy. They called forfocused revival prayer on every Saturday evening andSunday morning, as well as on the first Tuesday of eachquarter. By 1746 they were so gratified by the impact oftheir experiment that they composed a call to prayer to


17

Introduction

the church worldwide, especially in the colonies(Memorial). However, this time the ‘concert of prayer’was to be for seven years!

Five hundred copies of Memorial were sent to Bostonfor distribution. One fell in Edwards’ hands. He wasinitially attracted to it, he says, because it was anonymous– none of the ministers were trying to promote themselvesin the effort. He was also taken with their methodology,with its potential for mobilization, and its inherent valuefor holding Christians accountable to the work of prayer.He mentions all of this in the opening pages of AnHumble Attempt.

But Edwards also felt he could assist the initiative byproviding additional theological foundations for theMemorial’s vision, and by answering a variety ofobjections he was sure it would face. No one else wasbetter qualified to do so. Let me give you a quick overviewof his treatise, before you begin to digest it for yourself.

What Was Edwards Trying to Say?What Was Edwards Trying to Say?What Was Edwards Trying to Say?What Was Edwards Trying to Say?What Was Edwards Trying to Say?In 1712 British Christians called for intensified prayerfor a Protestant, not Catholic, king to succeed QueenAnne. Their foundational text was Zechariah 8:20-22.Edwards returned to that passage (it’s written out at thetop of page 35) to anchor his endorsement of a Concertof Prayer. And for good reason. It underscored as wellas any other text the attitude, agenda, impact, and ignitionof any prayer movement. Despite where one might placethe passage on an eschatological timetable, in principle itdescribes exactly what Edwards knew it would take tosustain and quicken the fruits of the Great Awakening.

Clearly over the past 250 years, the church hasexperienced ‘intermediate fulfillments’ of Zechariah 8


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just as Edwards predicted we would, when he writes onpage 47:

There shall be given much of a spiritof prayer to God’s people, in manyplaces, disposing them to come intoan express agreement, unitedly to prayto God in an extraordinary manner,that he would appear for the help ofhis church, and in mercy to mankind,and pour out his Spirit, revive hiswork, and advance his spiritualkingdom in the world, as he haspromised.

This disposition to prayer, andunion in it, will gradually spread moreand more, and increase to greaterdegrees; with which at length willgradually be introduced a revival ofreligion and disposition to greaterengagedness in the worship andservice of God, amongst his professingpeople.... In this manner religion shallbe propagated, till the awakeningreaches those that are in the higheststations, and till whole nations beawakened.

Towards this vision, An Humble Attempt breaks intofour major sections:

Part I – Response to the Memorial itself

Part II – Discussion of promises for latter-day glory


19

Introduction

Part III – Review of motives for united prayer

Part IV – Answering objections to the call to prayer

Of all the contributions that the book makes toindividual and corporate prayer life, nothing can surpasshow Edwards built his strongest case based on the hopeone is praying towards. He knew this to be the key forigniting and sustaining the work of prayer.

Without necessarily agreeing with his ‘post-millennial’eschatology, one cannot ignore his apologetic that ‘it isnatural and reasonable to suppose, that the whole worldshould finally be given to Christ as one whose right it isto reign’. Thus Christians must not permit themselves,pleads Edwards, to ever pray for less than this as the goalof all intercession, and of every single prayer. In fact, ifwe forego millennial discussions altogether for themoment, and simply concentrate on what might betterbe termed the Consummation, can any of us fail toembrace Edwards’ appeal when he writes:

Such being the state of things in thisfuture promised glorious day of thechurch’s prosperity, surely it is worthpraying for. Nor is there any one thingwhatsoever, if we view things aright,for which a regard to the glory of God,a concern for the kingdom andhonour of our Redeemer, a love tohis people, a pity to perishing sinners… would dispose us to be so much inprayer, as for the dawning of thishappy day, and the accomplishmentof this glorious event?


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With such a comprehensive vision, Edwards arguedthat prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, with allthe ramifications biblical promises suggest, was by far thehighest prayer agenda Christians could wage in thispresent age. In that direction, he urged, lies every reasonto expect great success in any Concert of Prayer. As heconcludes at one point: ‘For, undoubtedly, that which Godabundantly makes the subject of his promises, God’s peopleshould abundantly make the subject of their prayers. It alsoaffords them the strongest assurances that their prayers shallbe successful’ (italics his).

Among the motives for concerted prayer, Edwardsreasoned quite clearly that unity in prayer is both God’smeans to the Consummation, as well as an end in itself.In other words, although praying unitedly furthers Christ’sreign, it also forges the very result for which God calls usto be joined in prayer – to foster the visible unity that canconvince the world Christ is who he says he is.

To that end, Edwards was open to all theologicalcamps to come together – even those who opposed theGreat Awakening – as long as their shared passion wasfor the advancement of Christ’s kingdom through all ofChrist’s church in answer to our united prayers.

Interestingly, many of the objections Edwardsanticipated I have watched surface repeatedly in modernprayer movements. That’s why his responses are sorelevant for us. For example, he confronted charges thatthe Concert of Prayer was merely a form of superstition;or that it was an encouragement to pharisaicalism; or thatit misrepresented God’s timing, making the effortpremature and unnecessary; or simply that it revealedthe predisposition of some towards novel, and dangerous,ideas that had no basis in how God normally works. In


21

Introduction

addition, there were extended sections where Edwards triedto answer various eschatological controversies of his day,that he believed had the potential of derailing themovement. Bottom line: An Humble Attempt warns usthat mobilizing Christ-exalting prayer will come at a price.

Were Edwards’ Labors in Vain?Were Edwards’ Labors in Vain?Were Edwards’ Labors in Vain?Were Edwards’ Labors in Vain?Were Edwards’ Labors in Vain?As I said earlier, An Humble Attempt met with meagersuccess in Edwards’ lifetime. Three years after he wroteit, he was dismissed from his church (over debates aboutadministering the Lord’s Supper) and sent to a littlecongregation in Stockbridge, on the colonial frontier.

Seven years later, trustees at Princeton Universityprevailed on him to take over its presidency, where hedied five weeks after coming into office (due tocomplications from an experimental smallpoxvaccination, taken to help scientists test it for use withthe larger population). Interestingly, in that same year(1757) a Concert of Prayer was raised up by Princetonstudents, and resurfaced repeatedly the next one hundredyears on that campus, resulting in multiple studentawakenings.

However, it wasn’t until it was republished in Englandin 1789, that Edwards’ ‘attempt’ began to bear real fruit.Embraced by the fledgling prayer movement across theland, and adopted and promoted by William Carey andhis little prayer band, it eventually became a majormanifesto for the Second Great Awakening. Space doesnot allow a thorough report on how An Humble Attemptwas reissued in subsequent generations, and the impactit had on other awakenings (including the Third,beginning around 1857 – exactly one hundred years afterEdwards’s death).


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This happened not only on the home fronts, however,but throughout many mission fields. For example, in 1897upon returning from a nine month trip to visit chaptersof the Student Volunteer Movement For ForeignMissions in nearly forty nations, the general director, JohnR. Mott, made a curious notation in his journal. He wrotethat the vitality of each chapter could only be explained‘by the Concert of Prayer going on in each one’. Fromthat prayer movement alone came nearly 20,000missionary recruits, with another 70,000 in the Laymen’sMissionary Society to send them. Edwards’ vision was atthe core of the focus, the commitment, the sacrifice, theharvest, and the intercession behind it all.

So how did Edwards handle heaven’s delays in hislifetime? When Edwards’ initial ‘attempt’ seemed to stall,would he have been discouraged? As the years passedwithout another glorious visitation of Christ upon hischurch, would he have despaired over unansweredprayer? Seeing so little visible unity, or extraordinarypraying, or passion for the Consummation, would he havebeen embittered in his last years? Not if he heeded hisown concluding words in An Humble Attempt. All of uswould do well to listen to this man ‘abounding in hopeby the power of the Holy Spirit’ (Rom. 15:13). Reflecting,in his final paragraph, on what should happen if, at theclose of the seven year experiment, there would still belittle change, he admonishes:

But let it be considered whether it willnot be a poor business, if our faith andpatience is so short-winded that wecannot be willing to wait upon God forseven years, in a way of taking this little


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Introduction

pains, in seeking a mercy so infinitelyvast. For my part, I sincerely wish andhope that there may not be an end ofextraordinary united prayer, amongGod’s people, for the effusions of theblessed Spirit … and that extraordinaryunited prayer for such a mercy will befurther propagated and extended …God has not said to the seed of Jacob,Seek ye me in vain … But whateverour hopes may be in this respect, wemust be content to be ignorant of thetimes and seasons, which the Fatherhath put in his power; and must bewilling that God should answer prayer,and fulfil his own glorious promises,in his own time (italics his).

So, What Do I Take Away With Me from So, What Do I Take Away With Me from So, What Do I Take Away With Me from So, What Do I Take Away With Me from So, What Do I Take Away With Me from An HumbleAn HumbleAn HumbleAn HumbleAn HumbleAttemptAttemptAttemptAttemptAttempt?????Beginning that January afternoon in 1981, An HumbleAttempt has impacted my thinking on prayer, andespecially concerted prayer, over and over. WhatEdwards has shown me I’ve never regretted learning,constantly applying it everywhere I go. Here are six lessonsto get you started:

1. Prayer is co-working with God – he has ordainedthe end and also the means of prayer towards thatend. It is proactive. It allows us to participate directlyin God’s plan for the ages. It can even become (as Dr.David Wells defines it) ‘rebellion against the statusquo’.


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2. The biblical emphasis on prayer is primarilycorporate in nature. As I’ve documented elsewhere,about 90 per cent of what Scripture teaches on prayercomes down where Edwards came down – it’s aboutconcerted prayer.3. Praying together increases awareness of, and heartcommitment to, the purposes and mission andultimate victories of Christ, the way little else can. It isa great way for God to recruit laborers, too.4. There is value in appealing for prayer and inpromoting prayer, as long as it is done in a humilitythat says: ‘I need you to come with me, because Icannot do this alone. Also, I need the answers as muchas anyone else who prays with me.’ Prayer mobilizationis a very Christ-honoring work.5. The single greatest secret for igniting and sustainingindividual and corporate prayer is to help Christiansget clear on the hope we’re praying towards. And wemust be sure that that hope is somehow directly tiedinto the overarching prospects of the Consummationitself.6. To increase awareness of and desire for prayer, farmore important than our teaching on prayer is ourteaching about Christ. Prayerfulness is the naturalresponse of a heart that is fully caught up in all Christis to us and for us, over us and within us, through usand before us and upon us. Christ defines our agendain prayer. Christ opens up the door to heaven topresent our prayers. Christ gives us unity in himselfeven as we pray. Christ is the ultimate answer to allour prayers. In other words, prayer and the supremacyof Christ must forever walk together.


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Introduction

I don’t enjoy the flu. But that was a time, twenty yearsago, when being sick was truly a blessing! Now, withoutthe flu (I hope!), it’s your turn to encounter the life-changing vision of An Humble Attempt.

DAVID BRYANTChairman, America’s National Prayer Committee

March 2003


Documents

A Call to United Extraordinary Prayer...Prayer Greater New York) is utterly unprecedented. Without a doubt, it is the most significant urban prayer movement anywhere in the world